High Demand Anticipated for Third FCC ECF Filing Window

Demand for the FCC’s next round of Emergency Connectivity Fund support will likely exceed the funding that will be available, E-rate stakeholders and public interest organizations told us. The third round will make at least $1 billion available and is expected to be the program’s final round for applications.

The FCC received more than $6.4 billion in funding requests during the first two application filing windows and has committed more than $4.76 billion. The Wireline Bureau announced the third window due to a “continuing demand for prospective equipment and services and ECF stakeholders’ concerns about meeting the persisting unmet connectivity needs of students, school staff, and library patrons during the upcoming school year,” said Wednesday’s public notice in docket 21-93.

The third filing window was sought by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance in a January letter to commissioners, which was backed by several E-rate and industry groups (see 2203160058). The FCC gave potential applicants more time to spend money they receive, so schools and libraries "are going to have a lot greater incentive to apply" now compared with the previous windows, said Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen.

The estimated $1 billion available for the third round covers the program’s $400 support cap per device and $250 cap per Wi-Fi hot spot, said Wednesday's notice. The announcement also reflected what funding will likely be available once requests from the first two filing windows are "fully committed and administrative expenses are covered," plus any potential canceled applications from the latest funding commitments, the notice said. The FCC announced Wednesday it will commit about $68 million in its latest round (see 2203230042).

Demand “is going to be strong” and likely more than the $1 billion available, Windhausen said. "We ought to be thinking now” about additional funding from Congress or expanding E-rate to allow funding for students and library patrons at home, Windhausen said. Consortium for School Networking CEO Keith Krueger agreed demand will likely be “significant,” noting some districts may be “concerned about how they would continue funding household connections” once funding runs out. "That could tamp down interest," he said.

“Schools will want to continue support for the hotspot and Internet services they have been providing,” emailed Deborah Sovereign, E-rate management Professionals Association president and owner of Kellogg & Sovereign Consulting. Sovereign agreed the full $1 billion will be sought. Funding requests to buy Chromebooks or laptops may drop because schools were able to buy them with previous funding and through ECF, she said, but there “will be some who underestimated or missed the first [two] filing windows who will finally jump in to request the funding.”

Congress "really needs to continue to make a more permanent ECF so that home connectivity gaps don't keep reemerging,"Krueger said. It’s “important” that government programs “are actually sustainable” and “the need for broadband is not ending once the pandemic is over,” said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff. That’s why the FCC should “be funding these things” and “justif[y] the need” for E-rate and other USF programs in its upcoming report to Congress on the future of USF (see 2202180046). If demand exceeds available funds, the FCC will "prioritize award of support based on an applicant’s E-rate discount rate ... adjusted to provide a 5% bump for rural schools and libraries," emailed a spokesperson: One of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s "highest priorities is to close the homework gap and the FCC will keep working until all children, regardless of their circumstances or where they live, have access to the tools they need to succeed."

The Information Technology Industry Council is "pleased " the FCC opened a third window, said Senior Director-Government Affairs Margaret McCarthy. "Based on significant demand for the first two rounds of funding and the FCC’s action to extend the service delivery window, we expect strong demand from schools and libraries in this additional application window." McCarthy said, saying the FCC and Congress "should continue to support the important goals of the [ECF] program.”

Sens. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., asked the FCC and other federal agencies to update them on their progress in coordinating an update of federal broadband coverage maps. The lawmakers attached language to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requiring the FCC create an online interactive “broadband deployment locations map” that compiles data from the commission, NTIA and other federal agencies (see 2108050064). “Absent a transparent overview of where this federal funding is going, it will be increasingly difficult for federal agencies to distribute resources where they are needed most, and without duplication,” the senators wrote Rosenworcel, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and other agency heads. “This is essential as more funding is invested in closing the digital divide.” The senators also sought updates from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Treasury. The FCC and other agencies didn’t comment.